This object moves — fetching its current position…
Score breakdown
· 5 badges
37 pts · Rare
Rare50 pts → Epic
Passes within two lunar distances of Earth's orbit+18
Wildly elliptical orbit+10
Near-Earth object+5
Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit+4
Catalogue designation only+0
Total score37
13 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
🌠Near-Earth object· +5
🎢Wildly elliptical orbit· +10
🔢Catalogue designation only
🏛️Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit· +4
🪡Passes within two lunar distances of Earth's orbit· +18
✨ Trivia
Handle with care
🛡️What 'hazardous' means. 'Potentially hazardous' is bookkeeping, not a prediction: it means the orbit passes within 0.05 AU of Earth's and the body is big enough to matter. Nothing on that list is known to be on a collision course.
☄️If it ever hit. A rock this size arriving at a typical 20 km/s would release around 1049 megatons — about 21 times the largest bomb ever detonated.
What it actually is
🛸Its orbit family. An Apollo-class object: its orbit is wider than Earth's but crosses it. Most known Earth-crossers belong to this family.
🌞Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 0.32 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Mercury.
🔁One lap. A single orbit around the Sun takes it about 3.6 years.
🥏How far it roams. Its orbit swings between 0.32 and 4.36 AU from the Sun.
Sense of scale
🧱Sense of scale. In everyday terms it is about 2.4 football pitches across.
Standing on it
🔥Sunlight there. At closest approach the Sun beats down about 9.8 times harder than it ever does on Earth.
Properties
aphelion au
4.36
designation
2001 YB5
eccentricity
0.8637
full name
(2001 YB5)
h mag
20.74
inclination
5.55
mean motion deg day
0.2752
moid au
0.0029
name
2001 YB5
number only
yes
orbit class
APO
perihelion au
0.319
pha
yes
rotation period h
2.5
semi major au
2.341
About 2001 YB5
2001 YB5 is a rare neo. It swings within 0.319 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
An Apollo-class object: its orbit is wider than Earth's but crosses it. Most known Earth-crossers belong to this family.
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, 2001 YB5 is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why 2001 YB5 is a rare neo
2001 YB5 scores 37 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 13 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Near-Earth object, Wildly elliptical orbit, Catalogue designation only, Apollo: crosses Earth's orbit and Passes within two lunar distances of Earth's orbit — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.